by Ashley West
“H-hello?” Abby’s voice wavered with either real or invented fear, and Sorrin mentally cheered her on. “I need help. Someone’s chasing me, and I can’t—”
“Oh, dear. You shouldn’t be here. You really should not be here.” Out of the shadows stepped a Camador. She was tall and thin, willowy just like the rest of her people, and her hair tumbled down her back in ebony curls. She looked tired and afraid, like she was expecting someone else, and Sorrin wondered if all the Camadors were as united as they appeared to be.
“Please,” Abby said. “Please help me.”
The Camador stepped closer and then narrowed her eyes. “Wait a moment. I know you. You’re—”
Before she could get another word out, Sorrin was up and on his feet, moving as quickly as he could. The Camador woman gave a startled shout and lifted her hands, but it was too late to stop him. He wrapped strong fingers around her wrist and pulled her closer to him, gripping her tightly. “Don’t say a word,” Sorrin hissed. “Do you understand?”
She nodded, and he could feel her trembling against him.
“You’re going to come with us,” Sorrin continued. “And you’re going to tell us what your people have planned. If you don’t, I’ll kill you.”
The woman snorted. “The Caran will kill me either way. Why should I fear you?”
“Because it will be so much worse if I have to do it.”
“Hardly. You do not know our Caran.”
“Sorrin, maybe you shouldn’t…”
He shot her a sharp look. This was not the time to be second guessing their plan. It was the only thing they had against these creatures, and he wasn’t giving it up. Not now that he finally had one of them in his clutches. Abby fell silent.
“I could kill you so easily,” he murmured. “Talk to me.”
She let out a shuddering breath and then hung her head. “Alright. The Earth will be forfeit. A city that floats can have no dominion, but ruling from a planet as rich in resources as this one will cement us in history.”
“And the humans?” Sorrin wanted to know.
“Slaves. Labor.”
He could see the horrified look in Abby’s eyes at those words. “No,” Sorrin said. “It will not happen.”
“You can’t stop it,” she said. “The Caran has her ways. She has her spies. She has her plans. You will all die. Anyone who opposes her will die. Don’t you understand? You will die like vermin. Like every other victim of the Camadors.”
Fury leapt in him, and he let out a harsh breath. His instincts were telling him to snap this creature’s neck, to end her now before she could spew more filth about their victims, people like his friends, his family, who had probably died screaming and in fear.
“You will be silent,” he hissed.
“You will be dead,” she countered.
Sorrin let out a roar of anger and shoved the woman away from him. His heart was pounding with his rage, and he was shaking, even though he didn't notice at first. His sword was in his hand before he could register the decision to draw it. The woman was on the floor in front of him, her lustrous hair spilled over her face, but he could see the fear in her eyes, the way she wanted to scramble back from him, but was making herself stay close and not show her fear that way.
He wanted to kill her.
He wanted to watch her die on the floor like she had probably caused someone he cared for to die.
Even if she wasn't one of the ones who had hurt his friends and family, she was one of them, and that was all that mattered. All she deserved was to die like the vermin she kept saying everyone else was.
Sorrin took a step forward, ready to deal a blow.
Abby got in the way, drawing him up short.
"Don't," she said.
"Move," Sorrin growled. "You do not understand."
"I do understand," she said quickly, her voice low and urgent. "They did something to you, they hurt you or someone you care for. But don't do it like this. You need her, remember? You need to know what they're planning."
Her words penetrated through the haze of anger in his brain, and he licked his lips and swallowed hard, taking a step back. In his mind he still saw himself, ready to remove the Camador woman's head from her body, but he let that go. Abby was right. This wasn't vengeance, it was murder, and it would be much more satisfying to take them all out at once than to kill a single one in this dusty warehouse.
“Very well,” he said through gritted teeth. He leveled his sword at the woman’s face, eyes narrowed. “You owe your survival to a human. Think on that.” His eyes flitted back to Abby, who was watching him with barely concealed trepidation. “Find out their plan,” he said. “I will be outside.”
Close enough that he could hear if Abby called for help, but far enough away that he would calm down and not rush back in and murder this woman when she spoke.
He turned and strode out of the warehouse, fingers tight around the hilt of his sword.
Air, he needed air, and he needed to get away from here. He needed…
Sorrin didn’t know what he needed, but the pit in his stomach that had been there for four years felt particularly large and ragged, and it was hard to breathe.
Chapter Eight: Freeze
Abby watched as he stepped out of the warehouse and then let out a breath. She couldn’t believe how close he had come to killing the Camador, and she knew that she needed to find out what the story was with him and the Camadors. She wanted to go to him, to make sure he was alright, and she wondered at the odd bond that was forming between them over the last several days. She needed him to trust her, but the more she began to trust him, the harder it was for her to complete her mission.
Once Sorrin was gone, the woman on the floor pushed herself up, eyes boring right into Abby. “You are the one,” she said.
“The one what?” Abby replied, though she was pretty sure she already knew what the woman meant.
"The one the Caran has chosen."
"Then you're still with her?" Abby wanted to know.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because you're here in a filthy old warehouse instead of in your floating city? Just a guess that maybe you're supposed to be there instead of here."
"I am..." the woman faltered. "Unsure about Earth. The Caran doesn't take well to being questioned."
"Yeah, I noticed that about her," Abby said. "So what, you're defecting? You're on the humans' side now?"
The woman looked scandalized. "I am on my own side."
"Fair enough," Abby replied with a shrug. "What are you planning?"
"You already know," she said. "You are an instrument of it. Your people will be taken from the inside out, and you will help."
Abby winced because she had a point. If she did what the Caran wanted her to do, then she would be an agent of humanity's enslavement. Suddenly, she was less sure of herself.
"What will you do?" the woman asked. "When he finds out who you are really working for?"
She didn't have an answer for that. Sorrin wasn't anything to her. He was an acquaintance at best, and she was probably an annoyance to him at worst, but somehow it still felt like a betrayal. Her hands curled into fists, and she let out a breath. "I don't know. What will you do when your Caran finds out you're not a fan of her grand plan. Sorrin probably won't kill me, but the Caran will probably make sure you feel every second you ever doubted her. Maybe it's time to jump ship. Or jump city, whatever."
That was all she had to say, and she turned to leave as well, hoping against hope that Sorrin was far enough away that he hadn't heard any of that. She didn't know what she would do if this fell apart already before she knew what she was going to do.
Luckily, he was several feet away, standing almost eerily still and looking off into the distance. She didn't make a move to get closer to him for a moment, unsure.
"Come," he said, pitching his voice loud enough that she could hear him. "We will leave."
"O-okay," Abby said, and she followed him to the
ship, heart pounding.
Sorrin didn't speak again until they were on the ship, and then it was just to ask her what she had learned. Abby's brain stalled for a moment, and she opened her mouth, but no sound came out. What was she going to tell him?
"They...it's just what she said. They're planning to subdue us and anyone else who comes to help us and make sure that there's nothing we can do to stop them. So...so we'll submit instead of being killed."
It wasn't a lie, technically, though she was leaving out several key points, namely her own involvement in the plan. Something else occurred to her, and she said it before she could lose her nerve. "I think the woman we found doesn't believe in the Caran's plan. I think we could tempt her to our side."
"I don't want her on our side," Sorrin practically spat. "I don't want to have anything to do with any of them except for watching them die at my hands."
Abby made a frustrated noise. "Sorrin, she could help. She has an inside line. She could be the key to making this easier."
"Then we will do it the hard way," he snapped, and Abby flinched at the tone. "I want nothing from them. Do not speak of it again."
She shrank back in her seat and let him handle the flying of the ship. Chances were, when he found out what she'd done, he would want to kill her, too, and she was not looking forward to it.
Sorrin didn't seem inclined to say anything else for the rest of the trip, and that was fine by her. She didn't have anything else to say to him, either.
When they made it back to her apartment, he didn't come up with her, instead wandering the building alone. He had taken to doing that over the last week when he needed to clear his head, and sometimes he would sleep in the abandoned apartments or disappear for hours and then come back sweaty and out of breath, but with clearer eyes than he'd had when he left.
Abby left him to it.
She fixed herself a snack, had a beer from her fridge, and looked at her phone again. If she was going to die, and the chances were pretty high that either Sorrin or the Caran were going to kill her before this was all said and done, then she should at least tell her family goodbye. Get that closure that she hadn't gotten the first time she'd been taken from them.
But maybe it was better to just let them think she was already dead. Maybe they'd mourned for her already, maybe they had buried her in their minds already and it was for the best.
She just didn't know.
When it started to get dark outside, shadows lengthening, she realized Sorrin hadn't come back yet, and went to find him.
It was actually easier than she'd expected it to be, she just had to follow the trail of holes that had been punched into the walls on the bottom floor of the building to the storage room.
The room was dark when she stepped into it, and her eyes took a moment to adjust. When she could make out more than vague shadows, she looked around, trying to find Sorrin. His breathing was ragged, wherever he was, and she had a feeling he was drunk.
Giving up on being able to find him on her own, there were so many dark shapes that he just blended right in, she called out to him softly. "Sorrin?"
"Here," came the response, rasped and with a sharp edge of bitterness. He had definitely been drinking.
Abby moved forward, and found him on the floor, back to the wall, a bottle in his hand. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"This human spirit is pathetic," he said. "I've had a whole bottle of this, and I only barely feel it."
"You're seven feet tall and probably weigh four hundred pounds, Sorrin. I don't know what you're expecting. What's wrong? I mean. I guess I know what’s wrong, I just. I don’t understand.”
He looked up at her, eyes shadowed in the darkness of the room. Those eyes started at her face, taking it in for a long moment before they slid down. Abby was suddenly very aware that she wasn't fully dressed, just in an oversized t-shirt that did very little to hide the curves of her breasts and the way her nipples were hard in the chill air, and a pair of shorts that ended at her thighs. Lounging around her apartment had been more comfortable in clothes like this, but talking to her very male and very attractive new alien friend was definitely not the time to have skimped on her clothes.
She could almost feel his gaze as it slid down her body, and her cheeks heated with embarrassment as she looked away from him.
"Come here," he said, instead of answering her question.
Abby's eyes went wide with surprise. "What?"
"Come here," he repeated in the same tone. It wasn't an order, more a suggestion, but it had her heart thundering in her chest all the same.
"You're drunk," she accused, because that had to be it. They hadn’t known each other for very long at all, and he’d never shown any interest before. She was just a human annoyance turned ally that he had to deal with until this was done. So it had to be the alcohol, right?
"Barely. I'm not going to make you."
And she believed that. Abby had learned enough about Sorrin by now to know that if she turned and walked out right now, he wouldn't come after her. But she'd seen the speculative looks he'd been giving her when she surprised him, and things had been changing between them over the last few days.
It probably seemed odd to him, her being shy now when she was usually so outspoken. But that was just how she was. She’d never really worked at being confident when it came to other things, but now… Now she was unsure and confused, and struck by how much she wanted this to be something other than the alcohol. Maybe it was just the alcohol.
Her mission, however reluctantly she had accepted it, would have been a whole lot easier if she was the type who could just flirt indiscriminately and make people want her. If she was some sort of seductress or something. But she wasn’t, so that aspect had never come into play. That it was happening now was throwing her for a loop.
Her body seemed to be moving ahead of her mind because tentatively, she stepped forward. Her feet were bare on the cold stone floor, and she felt ridiculously small even with Sorrin sitting down. She had never been a timid person, but she had no idea what she was doing here.
Luckily, Sorrin seemed to have that covered. When she was close enough, he reached out, dropping the empty bottle and letting it roll away so he could put his hands around her waist. And god, his hands were big. They nearly met in the middle around her waist, and he chuckled huskily at the sight and then lifted her like she didn't weigh a thing.
Abby flushed darkly and a rush of arousal flooded her like a hot tide. One problem she'd always run into before when it came to dating and sex was that she had a hard time finding people who could keep up with her. She wasn't strong or powerful in a physical regard, but she had goals and ambition, and the usual frat boy wasn't interesting to her.
But Sorrin...Sorrin had a single minded goal that he was willing to sacrifice everything for. He had plans, he had looks, and he had strength. He was sort of the complete package, and now he had her and he was settling her in his lap.
Her legs were spread wide as she made herself comfortable straddling him, and he tipped her head up to look at her with a finger under her chin.
"Why don't you fight them?" he asked, and Abby knew what he meant instantly, of course.
"Isn't that why you're here?" she countered, arching an eyebrow. Sometimes their give and take made her feel like her old self.
Sorrin snorted, but it was an amused sound. For a second, nothing happened, and then he was leaning forward and capturing her mouth with his own.
Lips pressed to hers, gentle at first, just a brush to test the waters. When she responded eagerly, surprising both of them with the way she pressed forward to kiss him back, she could feel the pleased rumble in his chest. His arms went around her, thick and solid, and he pulled her even closer, kissing her hard and fast.
Abby barely had time to breathe between kisses. Sorrin didn't do anything by halves, clearly, and when she gasped, her lips parting, he took advantage of the situation and deepened the kiss. He might have been from anoth
er planet, but clearly kissing was a universal thing, and when they finally broke to breathe, Abby was lightheaded and panting.
"Oh my god," she murmured, one hand drifting up to touch her lips. They felt swollen and tingly, but in a good way, and she glanced at Sorrin, who looked smug. "Don't get cocky," she murmured, poking him in the chest.
Sorrin took her hand and kissed the back of it with a soft smirk. "It might be too late."
From the bulge she could feel under her when he rocked his hips upward, she was willing to bet he was right about that.
If she was going to put a stop to this, then now would be the perfect time. This was closer than she'd meant to get, and she was rapidly losing the threads of her plan to the desire and heat that was pooling in her from his attentions.
One of his hands slid under the hem of her shirt, going up her back and stroking the skin there gently. There was something so alluring about a man that size being gentle, and Abby swallowed hard. She was already wet between her legs, and she regretted not bothering to put on underwear after her shower. From the way Sorrin's nostrils flared, she was willing to bet that he could smell it, anyway. And wasn't that just mortifying?
"Have you done this before?" he asked.
"What, kissing?"
He shook his head, sliding the hand under her shirt around to the front. Gently he caressed her chest, and then made her yelp when he pinched her nipple hard. "This," he repeated, and she knew he meant that he wanted more than kissing.
"Yes," Abby breathed.
Sorrin nodded. "And did you enjoy it?"
Had she? Abby could remember some less than stellar performances from her boyfriends, but it had still been nice being that close to someone like that. "Yes," she answered.
"And do you want this with me?"
Once again, he was giving her an out. Sorrin had well over a foot on her, and over two hundred pounds at the very least. If he wanted to, he could take her right here and now whether she wanted it with him or not. But that wasn't what he was interested in, and Abby felt a spike of arousal alongside a twinge of guilt.
"Yes," she breathed, and Sorrin gave her what might have been the first wide, genuine smile she'd ever seen from him.